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Top Tips for making Clearing easy

Our experienced Admissions Team deal with the Clearing period every year, and they’ve come up with some top tips that we hope will point you in the right direction.

Do your research – and not just entry requirements

A big part of your research at this time of year is of course about the course you wish to study. Does the university I’m looking at offer it? Do I need certain GCSEs to get on it? How many A-levels do I need and in what subjects? But there’s also a lot more you should be looking at before committing to a university at this point. Is it further away from home than I’m wishing to travel? Is it a city university spread across a big area, or a campus university centred in one place? How much will it cost me to get there and get back on the train? Can I park my car on campus? Am I guaranteed a place in university accommodation in my first year?

Make a list of all the things that are important to you in addition to the course you want to study. You can then pick universities to concentrate your efforts on those that tick most, if not all, of these boxes in your pre-Clearing checklist.

Be prepared to contact universities yourself

This one may sound obvious, but when you’re trying to secure your place at university the universities you contact will want to speak to you directly and not to someone calling on your behalf. If you aren’t comfortable making an initial telephone call then that’s not a problem for us; there are loads of ways to get in touch with us. Try our email, webchat, Twitter or Facebook. Bear in mind that some courses require an interview before any offer can be made though, so be prepared to talk to us if you apply for one of those!

Get in touch before results day

Why not contact us before results day if you’re at all unsure that you’ll achieve what you need to in order to get into your current Firm or Insurance choices? If, for any reason, you feel you won’t make the grades, then check our Clearing Vacancies and if the course you’re interested in is on there then get in contact so that we can discuss your options. This year we’ll be making ‘pre-results’ offers to those who contact us during the Clearing period. These offers will be based on what you believe you may achieve, and will mean we’ll hold a place for you up until a week after results day if you achieve at or around these predictions. Call or email us at any point before results day and tell us you’d like to discuss a pre-results offer. One of our admissions team will discuss your options and hopefully make you an offer there and then.

On results day, have all your results to hand

Universities that you call are going to ask you about your qualifications. Once you have your results, write them down so that you can refer to them on the phone. Also write down your GCSE results, and any additional qualifications that you have obtained so far so that everything is in one place to refer to. Different universities will have differing processes, but if we can’t access your complete UCAS form when you initially contact us (for example if you’re already referred through Clearing to somewhere else) we will often make you a verbal offer over the phone based on the information you’ve given us. It’s really important that you give the correct information to us regarding your qualifications then, as we may withdraw our offer to you if your actual results are different to what you initially told us.

Be open to other suggestions

Although we may not be able to offer you the course you originally apply for, we may suggest another course which we feel may suit you based on your previous study and interests. There’s no rush to make a decision (see below) but do some further research as it may just be what you were after but didn’t realise the option existed!

Don’t rush into a decision

This year, you will be able to add a university as your Clearing choice on UCAS Track from 3:00pm on Thursday 17th August. It’s really important that when you make this choice, you’re sure it’s the right one for you so weigh up all your options before you make this decision. Go back to your pre-Clearing checklist, and make sure the universities you’re considering tick most, if not all, of your boxes. At Wrexham Glyndŵr University we’re not going to give you a 24 hour deadline on our offer to you – if we tell you on results days that you have a place with us, that offer is valid right up until the end of August so you have time to make sure you’re making the right decision.

About the author

Andy Phillips

Andy graduated with a Masters degree in politics and international relations before going on to teach in further education for several years. He joined the admissions team at Wrexham Glyndŵr University in 2008 and is currently the Admissions and Enquiry manager.